


Loop

by VJuniorVasquez



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26667475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VJuniorVasquez/pseuds/VJuniorVasquez
Summary: Goh is presented with an unique challenge when he finds himself stuck in a Time Loop...
Relationships: Gou | Goh/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Comments: 5
Kudos: 94





	Loop

**Author's Note:**

> Remember one of my one-shots for 30 days called "Over And Over Again"?  
> Well, this version is longer, fluffier, and better!  
> Hope you enjoy it!

Ash Ketchum had to admit that, before meeting Goh and spending his days at Sakuragi Institute, he didn’t like to have fruit for breakfast. However, that habit changed in the last few months.

He happily chewed his strawberry, playing a race against… nobody really, since Goh hadn’t touched his bowl.

“Careful Ash” the other boy said, across the table “You’re gonna choke”

The trainer was going to reply something, but then noticed the aspect of his partner, he raised an eyebrow, surprised, and was about to ask him something.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, he started to choke. Goh rushed to his side and pat his back, quickly offering him a glass full of water.

“You never listen” the researcher complained

“Sorry”

“And you’re always sorry” Goh continued, sitting at his chair again

Ash looked at his friend and repaired in his features once more. Goh’s face looked like utterly defeat, his eye bags were the biggest he ever saw, his cheeks were tainted with tears, his breath was hitched and his hair was messy

“What’s wr…?”

Goh didn’t let him finish

“I’m stuck in a time loop” the boy confessed out of nowhere

Ash Ketchum raised an eyebrow, looking at his research fellow with a dumbfounded expression

“What’s a…” he asked

“A time loop” Goh rushed, interrupting his crush “Is an event in spacetime that repeats over and over again, the person stuck in it has no control of it and doesn’t know how to stop it”

“How did you know…”

“I knew you were going to ask ‘what’s a time loop?’” Goh interrupted again “because this is the umpteenth time you ask that question”

“Okay…” Ash whispered “And how do you know…”

“I know what a time loop is because I spent several time-loops looking on the internet for the explanation of a time-loop”

“Do you know how…”

“Like I said, I don’t have control, nor do I know how to stop it”

“So except for the stopping part, you know…”

“Everything that you’re going to say next, yeah”

Ash took a deep breath, trying to understand the situation.

“How many times did you…”

“I’ve lost count after 500 loops” Goh confessed

“And how long does…”

“Each time loop is exactly fourteen minutes long, Ash”

“How much time do you…”

“I have exactly 6 minutes and 55 seconds until the loop resets again” Goh bluntly said, looking at the watch on his Rotomphone

“Is there something…”

“We’ve tried everything we could Ash and there’s literally nothing we can do to stop it”

“Is there something _I…_ ” Ash offered, starting to get desperate

“You can’t help me Ash”

“Have you figured out…”

“I have no idea why I’m stuck in a time loop”

“Is there something that triggers the…”

“The time loop always restarts at the same point in time, no matter what I’m doing”

“Do you think you’re…”

“Cursed? Maybe, why not, at this point, I’m ready to accept any explanation, no matter how ridiculous it may sound”

“How does it…”

“It feels like I’m going insane” Goh confessed, his voice cracking “No matter what I do, no matter what you do, it always restarts, it always happens again, we always have this conversation and we…”

“You shouldn’t waste your time-loops…”

“I’m not wasting them”

“You shouldn’t waste your time-loops on me” Ash insisted

“I’m not wasting them” Goh repeated “If I have to do this for eternity, then I’d like to spend the eternity with you”

“What do you mean with…”

“What I mean” Goh said, softening his expression for the first time that morning “Is that I’m going to do that if I have to and I’ll do it because I love you, Ash”

“Goh…”

The researcher took the trainer’s hand and squeezed it, offering him a weak smile

“Don’t doubt of me, because I totally mean it”

“I’d never doubt you, but that was very…”

“It wasn’t bravery Ash, I confessed to you almost a hundred times already”

Ash calmly rubbed the other boy‘s fingers, trying to come up with a solution, he was aware he wasn’t smart enough to deal with this kind of problem, so he simply questioned

“How long…”

“One minute and thirteen seconds until the restart” Goh said

“You didn’t…”

“Nope, I didn’t look at the clock this time” Goh quickly said “Let’s just said, after all those time loops I’ve gotten quite good at reading time on my own…”

“Maybe if I try to do something unex…”

“I expect everything from you at this point, Ash”

“You can’t predict everything”

“Fifty-seven seconds” Goh challenged

“I’ll make them count!”

“I’ll make them count!” Goh repeated at the same time

“Bulbasaur!”

“Bulbasaur!”

“Regigigas!”

“Regigigas!”

“Akala Island!”

“Akala Island!”

Ash approached the other boy, desperate to try something else

“Fourty-two sec…”

For once, he decided to interrupt him and launched at him, wrapping his arms around his back, caressing his cheeks, wiping his tears away, realizing how cute he looked under the morning sun, impossibly attracted to his rosy lips…

He planted a short but deep kiss on them and Goh blushed. Ash took a step backwards and questioned

“So? How’s that for unex…”

Goh put a hand on his chest and sadly commented

“That’s the twenty-first kiss you’ve given me…"

"Then it doesn't ma..."

"Your kisses always matter for me... Always, Ash"

“What’s going to happen when…”

“When the time loop resets in seventeen seconds, I’ll feel like I’m jumping backwards in time, back to our room, to my bed, to…”

Ash hugged him again and whispered

“Let’s jump together”

“That’s not how it works, we’ve tried this already”

“Let’s try it again”

“But…”

“Let’s try it until it works” Ash cut him off “Either we escape together, or we spend the eternity together…”

Goh nodded, and his soulmate smiled, he looked at his watch one last time and whispered to himself

“Three…”

He felt Ash tightening his grip around his waist

“Two…”

Covering his face with kiss after kiss

“One…”

He prayed to Arceus he could escape this time

“Zero”

And opened his eyes…

Only to find himself back in his bed

* * *

A mysterious sound echoed in the room and Ash Ketchum opened his eyes, ready to start a new day. He took a few seconds to stare at his faithful Pikachu, peacefully sleeping at his side and decided he could let his little buddy sleep for a few more minutes.

Once he got out of his bed, he looked up; Goh was still lying in his bed, which was very surprising, but even more surprising were the sobs coming out of his mouth.

The trainer carefully climbed to his partner’s side and shook his arm softly

“Goh… What’s wrong?” he whispered

No response

“You couldn’t sleep well?”

“I haven’t been able to sleep for weeks, Ash” the researcher replied, his voice was coarse and he looked extremely tired

“What do you mean by _weeks_?”

When Goh didn’t respond, Ash lay in front of him and wrapped his arms around his neck, forcing him to look at his face

“What do you mean?”

“I’m stuck in a time loop” Goh weakly commented “Frozen in a single moment in time, trapped in-between fourteen minutes of my life, no matter what I do, no matter what you do, I can’t escape…”

Ash processed the sentence as soon as he could, realizing he needed as much as help as possible, he shouted:

“Pikachu!”

His Pokemon friend jumped to his side in an instant

“Go find Raboot” he ordered, and then, looking at Goh he asked “He spent last night sleeping in the park, right?”

Goh barely nodded

“Go find him, Pikachu, as soon as you can!”

Pikachu rushed out of the room without saying anything else

Meanwhile, Goh simply put his head on his friend’s chest, causing a deep blush on the Pallet Town native’s face.

“Pikachu will be back in no time, you’ll see”

“There is no time… Not enough” Goh explained “You woke up too late this time, everything’s about to reset”

“Then wake me up sooner next time…”

“I waste too much time explaining things to you, Ash”

“Then don’t explain anything”

“How will you help me then?”

“Just say this to me…” Ash quickly replied, whispering something into his friend’s ear

“Are you sure that’ll make you help me?”

Ash nodded

Immediately, everything reset again

Goh wanted to pretend he didn’t know how many times he lived the last fourteen minutes, but deep in his mind, he was an obsessive person, so it was impossible to him to not be aware of every single thing.

That included the fact he knew he had been living through 3427 time loops, each of them lasting precisely fourteen minutes.

47978 minutes in total.

Almost 800 hours, or to be extremely precise, 799.63 hours.

33 days, more than a month, reliving the same moments, over and over again, with absolutely zero chance of getting out!

No matter what he tried, no matter the experiments, the situations, the screaming at the top of his lungs… Everything came back to its original state, always.

The only thing he hadn’t try yet was to open up the window and jump out from the top floor, but he still wasn’t so desperate to try that.

And then, it was the only constant, the only factor in this crazy equation that remained always by his side, always willing to help him.

No matter what, Ash Ketchum was always there, at some point of the loop, looking at him with worry, concern, and now, Goh discovered after so many loops, love for him.

Well, perhaps “love” was a stretch, after all, Goh used that word multiple times already.

Ash? Ash never said it.

Of course he said he liked him, he kissed him (his lips tasted like the sweetest berry each and every time), he hugged him, softly whispering words of comfort and confidence over and over again.

But he never said he loved him back…

And maybe, just maybe, Goh hypothesized, that was the problem, he was so desperate for Ash, so head over heels for him, so madly in love with that sweet boy, maybe his own mind affected the universe in a way he couldn’t control anymore.

Maybe he needed to let him go, away from his grasp, from his touch, from this time loop.

Maybe _not_ accepting his help, not wanting his hugs, not looking for his comfort was the key to break this curse.

So, Goh stayed in his bed, no sobbing, no sudden movements, no waking him up in any way.

He waited patiently for fourteen minutes, realizing that, if this worked, then it was a sign of the cosmos.

If he was out of the loop after this, then he would forget about Ash Ketchum and not chase after a romance with him anymore.

He took a deep breath, considering for a moment he could do what Ash said, he could say those words to him, hoping he would act as quickly as he said he would, no questions ask.

But, again, the problem was he had not enough time, so he simply stayed there.

“You’re not mine, Ash Ketchum…” he silently whispered, closing his eyes

But the time loop started over once more…

“Ash…” Goh said, his voice incredibly small and timid, directed at the boy sleeping below him.

The trainer opened his eyes and looked back at him. Goh gulped, this was a stupid idea. But then again, Ash’s ideas were usually stupid, and so far, he had a tremendous rate of success in their adventures.

“Yes? What’s wrong?”

He couldn’t waste time explaining things to him; he needed to make him understand everything as quickly as he could

“I need…” he doubted for a second, he never said those words, he was too proud to say them, too sure of himself to ask for anything related to that in any situation.

But Ash told him to use those words, so he completed the sentence

“…Help”

Ash Ketchum rushed to the window and opened it with supernatural speed, not before shaking Pikachu, waking him up.

“Go find Raboot buddy” he ordered

Pikachu nodded eagerly and jumped out of the window, swiftly landing on the ground and rushing towards the Park.

Meanwhile, Ash climbed to Goh’s side and took his hand; the researcher looked at him, surprised. Before he could say anything, Ash squeezed his fingers and commented:

“Something must be really wrong if you have to ask for my help…”

“Something _is_ really wrong, you see…”

Ash cut him off in the middle of his explanation, hugging him tightly

“Whatever it is, I’m here… Don’t worry Goh”

“You don’t even what is going on and…”

“And still, I know I can help you, just calm down”

Tears appeared on Goh’s eyes, and for a moment, Ash panicked

“I can’t calm down” the researcher whispered “I just… I want to get out, but I can’t… I’m stuck…”

“Stuck where?”

“In time, the loop is gonna catch me…”

The trainer looked at the other boy silently, and Goh realized he had to explain this, even if he didn’t want to waste more time…

However, Ash had another idea, he gently hugged his friend and covered both of their bodies with the sheets, and Goh looked at him with a funny expression.

“There” he explained, and even in the darkness, Goh could see his brown eyes shining “Now the loop won’t catch you, whatever that is…”

For the first time in the last 200 loops, Goh let out a genuine laugh; he cupped his boyfriend’s cheeks and smiled at him.

“You’re such a sweet, dumb boy, Ash Ketchum… But I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that”

Ash quickly jumped out of the bed, only to return to Goh’s side with his own sheets and pillow, covering both of them again

“There, now there’s no way anyone can catch you!”

Goh’s smile turned into a serious frown

“Why are you helping me so much? You don’t even know what’s wrong and still…”

Before Ash could reply something, he insisted

“Why are you doing this?”

“I…”

“Be honest”

Ash got offended for a split second and replied

“I’m always honest”

Goh didn’t make any comment, motioning him to continue

“Since the moment I met you, you always said you didn’t need anyone by your side, and yet, you wanted me to stay by your side…”

“Of course, you’re my research fellow, my friend”

“I want you to… to want me” Ash confessed “And if that means I have to protect you against this… loop, or whatever weird thing is coming to get you, then I’ll do it, without thinking”

“No questions ask” Goh said, echoing the trainer’s words from before

Ash nodded

“But why are you so interested in… me?”

Ash snuggled closer to him, and both boys’ noses touched for the briefest moment

“You’re smart… You don’t know that yet, Goh?”

“I guess you like me”

“Almost”

“Almost?”

“I love you, Goh” Ash confirmed

And with that, the researcher closed the distance between him and his crush, crashing his lips against the other boy, ruffling his hair desperately, tickling his feet with his own toes

Just to end up the kiss abruptly, distancing himself from the other boy, and looking away

“You’re worried about this… loop, aren’t you?”

“As soon as it catches me” Goh quickly explained “You’ll forget everything that happened so far…”

“I told you” Ash stated, pushing Goh against the pillows and hugging him tightly “Is not gonna catch you”

“Ash, you don’t even know how it works! Trust me when I tell you, any minute now…”

The trainer cut him off, kissing his temple and lying on top of him

“It’s not gonna catch you, I won’t let it, so please, stop thinking about it”

“Is all I can do Ash… My mind won’t let me focus on anything else”

“I have an idea”

Goh looked at the other boy with a disheartened expression

“If your idea involves more sheets or pillows I swear…”

Ash kissed him again, and before Goh could protest he kissed his left cheek, then his right, then his temple, his neck…

“What… are you…” Goh could barely said, flustering and laughing at the same time

“Maybe, if you don’t think about the loop, then it won’t catch you this time”

“What do you want me to think about, then?”

“Me!” Ash shouted, rubbing his left cheek against Goh’s face

The researcher didn’t complain again, he just closed his eyes and took a deep, long breath. Meanwhile, Ash focused on keeping his mind occupied.

Goh really appreciated the effort.

Koharu was getting ready to leave for school when she saw Pikachu and Raboot rushing towards the Institute entrance, she caught up with them and questioned:

“Guys… What’s happenning?”

“Pika… Pikapi, pika!”

She would never admit it aloud, but since she started to spend more time with Ash and Goh, she got quite good at reading Pokemon’s feelings, that’s why she suddenly understood something was really wrong with her friends.

With no time to waste, she rushed behind Pikachu and Raboot

When the three of them entered, they stared at the scene, the room looked messier than usual, and the top bunk was crowded with sheets and pillows, with a very loud snoring coming from below.

“What are you two idiots doing this time?” Koharu asked, softly picking up a sheet

The girl and the two Pokemon at her side blushed as soon as they saw Ash softly kissing a sleeping Goh; the trainer slapped Koharu’s hand away and covered himself and his boyfriend with the sheets once more.

“Don’t distract me!” he whispered from inside their improvised tent

“From doing what?” Koharu insisted, this time taking the sheets completely away

“I need to protect Goh”

“By smooching him to death? You’re gross”

Raboot frowned at the trainer and jumped to his human’s bunk, kicking Ash away from it

“No!” the boy complained “The loop is gonna catch him”

Then, the fire type slapped his trainer with his ears

The first thing Goh saw when he opened his eyes was the face of his first Pokemon, his paws crossed in a menacing attitude. His mind didn’t fully register what was going on, so he questioned:

“Raboot… What are you…”

“Bleh!” the Pokemon shouted, pointing down

Goh then saw the face of a very uncomfortable Koharu, a visibly confused Pikachu, and an extremely worried Ash

“Bleh Bleh!” Raboot insisted, focusing on the trainer “Bleh!”

Goh understood

“He wasn’t harming me Raboot… He was only…”

Then, his brain clicked, he looked at Koharu and shouted:

“What time is it?”

“Almost 9:00 AM, you two really took your time to get up today…”

“Are you sure that’s the time?”

The girl deadpanned

“Yes, you idiot, what’s so important about the time?”

“We’ve been sleeping for two whole hours” Goh muttered

“So?”

“So… I think I’m free…”

“You are?” Ash asked, climbing to his side

“I am!” Goh confirmed excitedly “All thanks to you!”

Before anyone could say anything else, he jumped out of the bed, dragging Ash with him, only to deeply kiss him in front of his friends.

“Gross” Koharu repeated, although she had to admit the two idiots looked cute together

Without letting his boyfriend go, Goh exited the room, laughing and jumping of joy, realizing Ash did love him.

And yes, love was the correct word.

“Do any of you have any idea what just happened?” Koharu said, looking down

Pikachu and Raboot shrugged at the same time

And speaking of time, so far, Goh hasn’t suffered anymore time loops…

**Author's Note:**

> See you... As soon as I can!


End file.
